Archive for November, 2009

It is a general perception that heavy weights make you bulky, and likewise low weights with high reps are best suited to stay thin. Posters of bodybuilders on gym walls and bodybuilding magazines are to be blamed for the above statement. Any individual, who wants to be fit and healthy, would approach a gym to pursue his dream and after watching the bodybuilding posters would be petrified to join that gym, as I have heard many of them suggesting me when they come to enroll that they would never wish to grow to such monolithic proportion. We should be very clear that in most of the cases the huge muscle bulk we see in bodybuilders in gym wall posters and in bodybuilding magazines are all steroid users. In addition, they also belong to the genetically elite group which means that building muscle is relatively easy for them. Whereas, average men/women like many of us who want to be fit and pose a healthy body, cannot build muscle to such gargantuan proportions, as we lack the genetic potential when compared to the above mentioned athlete and importantly we would never dream of supplementing with steroids as that would defeat the whole purpose of flaunting a healthy body. On the other hand, I have seen many who are afraid to supplement with whey protein, at the least, for they fear that to be a chemical which helps in building huge muscles. However, it requires many years of consistent and diligent effort to possess a descent physique, lest a herculean physique. In addition, proper exercise programming integrated with a well supported nutritional plan, and supplementation is also paramount to build a muscular body.
It is a very well known fact that weightlifters, power lifters, track and field athletes are the ones who train with heavy weights. For example, as quoted in Dr Mel Siff’s books Facts and Fallacies of Fitness, Boris Becker (two time Wimbledon winner) Ben Johnson (world class sprinter) and Mike Powell (long jump record holder) all trained with heavy weights. If you can recall how Becker was on the tennis court, you can notice that he was one of the most athletic player till date. It also suggests that he was not in any way a man who possessed monstrous muscle belly. It is also very well known that power lifters and weight lifters are no way closer to the muscle belly which bodybuilders pose though they train with heavy weights in relation to bodybuilders. Likewise, power lifers and weightlifters rarely indulge in executing high number of repetitions for any given exercise. They are most of the time lifting super heavy weights for very less repetitions, as their training is aimed towards strength, power, and skill rather than hypertrophy. In addition, among the bodybuilding community, it’s a rarity to find a bodybuilder who trains very heavy. Also, if we watch any of the training videos of these elite bodybuilders we see that they experiment a lot by doing various exercises and they also tend to play around with different repetition range(usually moderate to high repetitions). Naturally, performing high repetitions which bodybuilders more often engage in cannot be executed with heavy weights. Dr Mel Siff very clearly sums up when he says, “Most bodybuilders have found that training with moderate to moderately heavy weights, rather than with maximum weights is a better way to enhance muscle hypertrophy. Moreover, the majority of top bodybuilders use anabolic-androgenic steroids deliberately to accelerate hypertrophy, because it is the aim of their training to become massively bulky. Olympic weightlifters, on the other hand, who often train with extremely heavy weights, do not develop this enormous hypertrophy, simply because strength and power, not bulk, are the primary goals of their training”.
He further adds “massive hypertrophy is not the automatic result of heavy weight training-instead this is a result of the appropriate genetics, an appropriate training programme, careful nutrition and very often, supplementation with legal and illegal ergogenic aids.” Most of my gym clients train with heavy weights for low reps. As a result none of my clients are huge carrying monstrous muscle belly. In addition, none of us indulge in the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids. So, stop whining and lift heavy weights, for the results will speak for themselves which you will never regret. And do not commit yourself to perform high repetitions, for you may develop unwanted(sarcoplasmic) hypertrophy.

PS: To read more on sarcoplasmic(unwanted) hypertrophy, please read the blog entry titled Functional Training and Its benefits.

“You know my friend was very sure that high repetition of abdominal situps, crunches, or any other abdominal work will help us tremendously to trim down the waist. His gym coach was also of the opinion that if you want to burn fat in and around the love handles, you will have to do high repetitions of side bends and side twists as well as the rotating device which is a staple in many gyms. So coach, what do you have to say about that?” I have been continually asked the above query by newbie’s who join my fitness facility. I have always experienced that whenever my body fat is to the lowest, my lower back goes for a toss. It stiffens abruptly, thus not allowing me to do any kind of direct abdominal work. So if you see my pictures where I am exhibiting a shredded midsection, you should also know that in the later stages of reaching lower levels of body fat I never did any abdominal work whatsoever, but I still posed a shredded midsection.

Let’s see what Dr Mel Siff, one of the groundbreaking fitness scientist, had to state about this bodybuilding myth: “What they are claiming is that local or spot reduction is possible with high repetition exercise, something which has never been shown to occur to any major extent by any research to date. All that the high repetitions are likely to do is increase muscle bulk, more especially in the advanced athletes or novice to heavy training. He further adds, no amount of situps without a decrease in caloric intake will trim your waist, so don’t believe all marketing hype about these miraculous midriff trimming toys which benefit the coffers of the marketers far more than the shape of your body.” It definitely doesn’t surprise me when Dr Mel Siff vehemently ridicules these claims. Dr Mel Siff precisely states that spot reduction, generally, doesn’t occur. You can ask any learned fitness trainers on this planet and they would invariably suggest that burning fat at a desired region is far from true.

You advice people that spot reduction is a myth and they are going to mistrust you. Somehow, the belief that you can reduce your waist size by doing regular abdomen work is ingrained in our beliefs, for it is very difficult to tackle that issue. Individuals who have trained for a longer period in a gym set up and if they would have introspected on this issue, very clearly they would have realized that spot reduction won’t occur no matter what fancy exercise you do. So beware of the ad which tells that these set of exercises or some particular gadget is going help you to build a shredded midsection.

Likewise, even the fitness model or the bodybuilder who is promoting the trash device in a TV commercial knows very well that these contrivances would not help us in anyway whatsoever, for he would have reduced his calorie intake and performed high intense workouts for a considerable time to acquire that shredded look. For example, the sauna belt which is now touted to produce amazing results and give us a six pack is an absolute fraud. How on earth can a vibrating belt reduce your fat? Scientific research nowhere suggests that such a miracle occurs. I can’t believe when people have come to me and asked whether they would be of any benefit using the belt. I still find them not to believe my words, and moreover, they want to give it a definite try, as they all want an easy way-out. Sooner or later they will realize that it will not help them in anyway.

In addition, how are these companies which promulgate these products making huge money? They are making merry on our weaknesses and are thus capitalizing on our laziness. We all want instant results without any effort. It is time we face the fact. We all know that Rome was not built in a single day. This reminds me of the the famous quote by Joe Girard, a famous motivational speaker, which I read almost every day, as it is pasted on our gym wall: “The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.” I do hope you understand the above statement, for it generates immense insight.
So what on earth do we have to do to burn the fat? Do we have a way out? Contextual calorie reduction, regular exercise, avoiding junk altogether will pave the path towards possessing a trim waist, but not by doing innumerable repetitions of abdominal situps, crunches, or using some junk (sauna belt) device. I know that this debate is far from over. It is just a minute attempt to send the right message.